8 Is Not Enough To Save Wings

Free Agents Fall Far Short Of Hopes

DETROIT — They arrived in Detroit from all corners of the hockey map, acquired in an unprecedented shopping spree by Red Wing owner Mike Ilitch.

They were the key ingredients in what general manager Jimmy Devellano called ``the grand experiment.``

They were eight free agents, some from college, some from other NHL teams, who signed with the Red Wings last spring and summer. If they delivered as hoped, Detroit might challenge Edmonton for the Campbell Conference title and a berth in the Stanley Cup final, Devellano brashly suggested.

But they did not, as NHL standings attest. In fact, the acquisitions proved to be a dismal failure. The Wings are the league`s doormat, setting a club record for most losses (57) with one game left.

The free agents` story is one of overly high expectations and underachievement, of too much hype and too little production. The Wings, notorious for overpaying players who didn`t deliver, seem to have learned little from their past.

Detroit`s indulgence in the free-agent market began last June, less than two months after the Black Hawks swept the Wings in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Ilitch vowed his team would never be embarrassed that way again.

On June 5, Devellano signed defenseman Tim Friday and left wing Dale Krentz to modest contracts.

They had just completed their college careers, Friday at NCAA champion Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Krentz at Michigan State.

Three weeks later, Devellano scored another double, enticing right wing Chris Cichocki and center Adam Oates to leave college a year early. Cichocki, from Michigan Tech, signed a two-way contract similar to those of Krentz and Friday. Oates, from Rensselaer, received $1.1 million for a four-year deal.

But Devellano topped that in July. He dipped into the NHL free-agent pool on July 10 to sign Warren Young away from Pittsburgh for $1 million over four years, topping bids from 13 other NHL clubs. Eleven days later, the Wings won a bidding war involving 20 NHL teams for Ray Staszak, paying him $1.3 million over five years to leave Illinois-Chicago a year early.

Then, in mid-August, Devellano waded into the NHL free-agent pool again for two defensemen, Mike McEwen from Washington and Harold Snepsts from Minnesota, each for about $175,000 for one season.

Of the five college free agents and three NHL additions, all but Cichocki, Krentz and Friday were considered sure bets to make the team.

But at one point in midseason, only Young and Cichocki of the eight free agents were on the Wings` roster.

The million-dollar kids, Staszak and Oates, didn`t find it very easy to break into the NHL.

After rough starts in Detroit, both wound up in Adirondack. Soon after reporting to Adirondack, Staszak suffered a concussion and missed several games. Then he suffered a massive tear of an abdominal muscle, similar to one that sidelined the Black Hawks` Al Secord for much of two seasons.

Oates, recalled from Adirondack in March, has been one of the Wings`

steadiest forwards, centering Detroit`s most productive line the last two weeks.

McEwen was the first to leave the organization after he flopped as Park`s replacement on the point of the power play. He was traded to the New York Rangers in December for Steve Richmond.

Snepsts injured his left knee in the first week of training camp, reinjured it twice and missed 42 of the first 49 games. Since his return, he has been a steady defensive player.

Young played 17 games before scoring his first goal, but now he has 22.